


Necklaces and Necromancy

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Series: Remember Me [20]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 21:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4721189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since when did dead mothers become fair play? Seriously?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Necklaces and Necromancy

  


"What's that?"

Laxus glanced up and over at his open bedroom door, not shocked to find his wife standing there.

"Nothin'," he said, standing over their dresser. He had one of the drawers pulled out and had taken something out of it.

"Doesn't look like nothing." Mirajane only came closer. "Ooh. Is that for me?"

"No." He stared down at the necklace in his hand. "I mean, I guess not."

Frowning, Mirajane came to his side. In the past few days since they'd returned from rescuing their daughters from Ivan, many things had happened. Especially with Laxus. He seemed rather depressed over the whole thing and mostly didn't want to talk about it. Unless the girls brought it up, he seemed to just be trying to put it behind him.

Which Mirajane wasn't really big on. She was the type to talk things to death. And something as traumatic as that whole experience had been, she'd have fuel for months. But Laxus didn't feel the same. At all. And their oldest, Haven, well she was always one to try and imitate him to the fullest. Then their little baby, Marin, well she didn't want to talk about it because it was scary. She was still very much so convinced that Ivan was coming to take her again. Mirajane could hardly leave the house and Laxus didn't at all, deciding to take a few days off to stay with them.

That left Mira with only people outside the household to talk with about it. And, honestly, there were numerous chances for that. From her siblings to all her friends, she was not out of options for her gossip. She'd just prefer to share some of it with Laxus.

"Uh, Lax? What do you-"

"I found it," he told her, gripping the lightning pendant attached to the chain as he glare down at it. "At Ivan's place."

"O-Oh." She glanced up from it then and at his face. "Um…is it important or-"

"I guess so."

"Why'd you take it?"

Looking at her then, he stared into her eyes with a heavy frown. "Because he doesn't deserve to have it. He doesn't deserve anything of hers."

Mira paused then, reaching a hand out to lay it on his bicep. "Dragon… Why didn't you mention it before?"

"I had it in the bag with the lacrima," he explained. "And when I put that away, I decided to just…I dunno. I put it in here when we first got back and didn't think much of it. Everything was so crazy when we first got back. I wanted to make sure that the girls were okay. But now-"

"It was your mother's?" Mira ventured softly to which he only nodded. "I didn't know that…"

"That what?"

Swallowing, Mira thought for a moment before saying, "I didn't know that you were old enough to remember something like that when she…"

"Well, I was." He relaxed his grip on the pendant then, looking back at the lightning bolt once more. "She wore it everywhere."

Usually Mira had no qualms about just taking things from the man, but instead of snatching then, she held out a palm to him. "Can I?"

Slowly he nodded before resting the cool metal in her waiting hand. "It's a little cheesy, huh?"

"Hmmm?"

"A lightning bolt?" He grinned at her then, but it was wry. "For a lightning mage? It's silly."

"Well, it wasn't yours, Lax. It was your mother's, so-"

"That's who I'm talking about."

Mira stared up into his eyes then. "Your mother was a mage?"

Nodding, he said, "That's how I chose my magic. I mean, yeah, the slayer part was sorta forced upon me, but when I chose my element, it was for her. Stupid, huh?"

"It's not stupid."

"Is too." He was still staring at her. "It's childish. She's dead. She doesn't know what I'm doing. It doesn't matter to her. The dead are dead. Honoring them does nothing for them. Only yourself."

"That's not true, Laxus. It-"

"It is true."

Bowing her head then, Mira said, "Even if it is, it's served you, hasn't it? And I'm sure it meant something to you when you were a child. That's all that matters, right?"

He just shrugged then before looking off. "Anyhow, it doesn't matter. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. If you wanna wear it-"

"It does matter, Lax."

"Mira-"

"We've never talked about this," she told him softly. "I've been with you for over a decade now and we've never talked about this."

"So? It's the past. It's over. It-"

"We've talked about my life growing up," she pointed out. "My village, my parents, everything."

"Yeah, well, you're just a tad more open than me, huh?"

"Laxus-"

"What, Mira? Huh? What do you want to know then? Just ask so we can get this over with."

"I'm not trying to pry," she said as he took the necklace back from her before moving to put it away in the drawer once more. "Dragon-"

"She got sick and she died," Laxus grumbled. "Ivan blamed me because I was so young and took up so much of her time. Said that I drained what little strength she had. He loved her or whatever. As much of an ass as he is, he did love her. And he hated me for killing her. But I never got that when I was young. I didn't see the way he was using me. The way that he couldn't look at me. Couldn't have a direct conversation with me.  _I fucking loved him_  and he hated me. The entire time. Is that what you want to talk about, Mirajane? Huh?"

"N-No. I just-"

"Or about how Gramps tried his hardest to get me to see that, to shield me, but I just-"

"Laxus, I'm not trying to-"

"Then what are you doing, Mira? Huh? I-"

"Laxus, are you crying again? You big baby."

Great. And Haven was in there then, apparently overhearing them from where she had been playing in the living room. Glaring over at where he saw the girl standing in the doorway, he said, "Go away. You know, I think it's time that we made a rule. You can't come into me and your mother's room without permission. So scram."

Yeah, like that was going to work.

Coming further into the room, the blonde asked, "What are you crying about now?"

"Haven, leave your father alone," Mirajane ordered, sending the girl a frown. "This is an adult-"

"I'm not crying, brat, so shut up." Huffing, Laxus shook his head at her. "You know, you never learn, do you? Just a few days ago, you were telling me you loved me and feeling all bad about getting your sister and friend caught up with Ivan, but now here you are again, acting like a-"

"Laxus." Mira hit his arm then. "Honestly."

He only stood over by the dresser though, locked then in a heated glaring match with his oldest daughter. If there was any sign that things were getting back to normal, it was that.

"Why are you all in here?"

There. Marin was with them as well. Great. She had been taking her nap before and was rubbing tiredly at her eyes as she came into the room.

"Did somethin' happen?" Marin rushed right over to her parents, bypassing her ticked off sister. "Is he back?"

"Marin, for the last time," Laxus grumbled, his tone darker than it usually was when dealing with her. "Ivan isn't coming back. So stop-"

"You're about to get another hit," Mira hissed at him as she just leaned down to pick her up her daughter. "Honestly, Lax."

Taking a deep breath, he forfeited that round of glaring to Haven as he turned his attention from her and onto his younger daughter.

"Mar, I'm sorry." Reaching out, he ran a finger down her cheek. "And we were just talking. That's all. Not every time we raise our voices do you gotta worry about Ivan. He's not comin' back. I made sure of it. Don't you trust me?"

She giggled as he leaned down to nuzzle his head against hers. Haven wasn't finished with him yet though and watching him give Marin undeserved (in her opinion) attention was not going to cut it.

"Stop being a baby, Marin," Haven growled, going over there. "You're not one. So stop it."

"Haven." Laxus frowned at her. "She's not being a baby."

"Yes, she is. Having Mom hold her and actin' like she's all scared and- Hey!"

Mira had thumped her in the forehead. "I remember Laxus telling me about a certain someone that needed just as much comfort after-"

"Yean, well, Laxus is stupid."

"Haven-"

"That's enough, brat." Growling, he said, "I can't believe that I even thought about giving it to you."

"I don't want it!"

"You don't even know what I'm talking about."

"That stupid lacrima," she said. It was a good assumption considering it had been the topic of discussion for the past few days as, after Haven's denial of it, Marin refused it too. "And I told you, I'm not a cheater like you. I'm gonna get strong all on my own."

"And I told you that I don't need no stinkin' lacrima to- Wait, that's not the point!" Ugh. Haven could get him all mixed up with a simple snap of her fingers. If she didn't count it as one of her skills, she should. "I wasn't even talking about that."

"Then I do want whatever it is. So hand it over."

"Haven, behave." Mirajane left the two of them then, going over to the bed to sit down. Though she was being a massive pain (as usual), the eight year old was right about one thing. Marin wasn't a baby anymore and carrying her around wasn't fun. Dropping her on the bed next to her, the woman added, "I honestly don't get the two of you. At all."

Marin snuggled up to her mother, staring over at them. "What are you givin' Haven, Daddy?"

"Nothin' now," he grumbled. "You can have it, Marin."

"That's not fair! She took my lacrima and this?"

"You don't even know what  _this_  is," he pointed out. "You stupid brat."

"I hate you!"

"Good!"

"Are we honestly going to fight over a necklace?" Mira asked with a sigh. "The two of you get worse and worse, you know that?"

"Necklace?" Haven lost some of her drive. "That thing that you got from Grandpa?"

"He's not your grandfather," Laxus grumbled. "And yeah. But now you don't get it, so-"

"Good. I don't want it."

"Oh, whatever."

"I don't." Turning her head, Haven said, "I don't want something from a dead person. It's probably haunted."

"Haven!" That time Mirajane jumped right up, leaving Marin behind as she went to grab the girl by the arm. "Come here. Now."

"Hey! I was only-"

"Mira, leave her alone," Laxus sighed as he heard the deeper octave his wife's tone held. She was about to hand down some stiff punishments to the child, but he knew what Haven was doing. They'd talked about his mother before, after leaving Ivan's place. She was only doing what she always did. Hitting him below the belt to try and elicit some sort of emotion. Haven probably felt he'd been spending too much time with Marin the past few days and was going to fix that right up. She was no stranger to the idea of all attention was good attention. Even if it was negative. "Go to your room, Haven."

"I didn't-"

"Go."

Narrowing her eyes as her mother released her, Haven gave him a death stare before turning and rushing from the room. That wasn't what she was wanting, he knew, as it was too easy. She wanted him to yell at her or for Mira to get all riled up. Too bad though, the way he saw it. He'd had enough of her for the day.

"Laxus," Mira began, but he only shook his head at her.

"What's that you always tell me when I get upset with her? That I created that?"

"Well, you did," Mira greed. "If we're being honest."

And he had. All the times he gave into her or allowed her to get away with things young had long since come back to bite him. He figured it'd only grow the older she got. But, like always, there were just so many more important things to focus on. Such as, at the moment, going to fall into the bed with Marin and let her snuggle up to him.

Haven was hard. Difficult. And worst of all, his. He knew that it wasn't fair to the others or even to Mira to just leave her be, but he never rightly could figure out how to reign her in. He just wasn't meant to have kids. He'd told that to Mira before they had her. The original plan was for him to have very little dealings with Haven to begin with.

Perhaps that would have been for the best, seeing what he'd done to her at that point.

"There's a ghost?" Marin cuddled close to the man for protection. "Daddy?"

"No, silly." He shook his head. "Your sister is just…her. And being a brat. That's all."

"But-"

"That was my mother's necklace," he told her softly as slowly Mira's face lost some of it's tension. "And she died a long time ago. That's all."

Snuggling closer still, Marin said, "That's sad."

"I guess so."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't gotta be sorry, silly." He snuggled her some too. Because she deserved it. He wasn't sure what it was that made Marin and Haven so different, but he was thankful for it. "Was your nap okay?"

"Mmmhmm."

"No bad dreams?" She'd had those frequently since getting home.

"No bad dreams."

"Come on, Marin." Mirajane was coming over to the bed then to snatch her up. "Let's let Laxus have a few minutes by himself, huh? Me and you can go figure out what we'll make for dinner tonight. We might even have to go to the market. You wanna go to the market?"

Not really. But Laxus didn't seem too interested in doing anything fun that day, so she figured she'd just stick close to her mother. It was rare for her to have an off day and, well, Marin sure liked to spend them together.

Laxus laid around for a bit, staring at the ceiling and thinking, before slowly getting to his feet. If he waited around too long, Mira would go handle Haven and he couldn't have that. She was getting to the age where he couldn't just negate punishments when Mira handed them down. They were supposed to be a united front or something. Bleh. No, it was just much better to deal with her himself.

But when Laxus poked his head into Haven's room, she was laying down on her bed and though he knew she wasn't sleeping, she also wasn't causing any problems. Why poke a sleeping dragon?

Besides, his head hurt. He needed a beer.

Marin and Mirajane had left it seemed, no doubt to go pick something up for dinner, so Laxus went to sit out on the back porch and clear his head a little. His demon and girls could get him more scrambled than anyone.

He was out there drinking when the backdoor opened. Without even glancing behind him, he knew who it was.

Slowly, Haven came to stand behind him. "Laxus?"

"Go away."

"But-"

"I'm tired, brat, of fighting with you today. You win. Your mother's alive, mine's dead. Great. Hoorah. Hooray for Haven."

"I never said-"

"Just," he grumbled, "leave me alone. You know everything there is to know and none of us will ever win against you. Is that what you want?"

"No. But-"

"My mother's dead, Haven. And I loved her. Actually loved her. And you made fun of that by saying-"

"You're not being fair. You always-"

"And you know that all this stuff with Ivan's been bothering me," he went on. "I get it, you're a kid, but you're turning out to be a rotten one that- Hey!"

She'd shot some of her lightning at him. Which, really, didn't affect him. At all. But it annoyed him.

Turning his head to glare at her, he said, "You just don't get it, do you? When you finally piss me off and the demon off, you'll have no one. So you better stop being such a little brat all the time because, according to your mother, we can just pop another baby out at any time. And we only need two."

Her face contorted then and, dropping her hands, she didn't shoot at him anymore. Instead, she said, "You always do this! You say that I'm bad and then you say mean stuff like that and it's not fair! You're just as bad as me. You're just as mean."

"I am not, Haven. I-"

"You just said that you didn't want me!"

"And you think it's funny that my mother is-"

"No, I don't! I never said that!" Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked off before saying in a softer voice, "You said that I did. But I didn't."

"You said that you didn't want it because-"

"But I didn't say I was glad she was dead."

They were splitting hairs, he knew, but Laxus wasn't up for much else.

"Because I don't," Haven went on. "At all."

Laxus took a moment to sigh before facing forwards again. When he didn't say anything to that, Haven came closer until she was right behind him.

"Laxus?"

"Now what, brat?"

"Now can I have the necklace?"

Growling, he got to his feet that time so that he could glare at her as he turned around. "You said that you didn't want it!"

"Yeah, but that was just to make you mad." When she stared up at him like that, eyes all wide and her hair down, she looked like the child that she really was and not the conniving little runt that she portrayed herself to be. "I really do want it."

"You want it?" At her nod, he added, "Or do you just not want Marin to have it?"

Well…

"It's not a joke, Haven," he told her. "That's one of the only things I have of my mother's. I wouldn't be giving it to you as a gift or as a reward. I'll be giving it to you because I love you and I love her and…you remind me of her." Scratching at the back of his neck then, Laxus felt awkward for some reason and had to look off. Then, to save himself, he was quick to add, "But you're such a brat that you don't deserve it right now anyways."

That was a lot of information for Haven's little brain to process all at once. When it got to the end of his words though, she frowned.

"Good!" She went back to glaring at him. "I don't want it anyways. You big baby."

"I'm not a baby."

"Are too."

Narrowing his own eyes at the girl, he slowly turned before sitting back down. Grunting, he was quick to add, "Go away, Haven. I got a beer to finish."

She was done with him though and, with a grunt of her own (it was far too cute for Laxus to not smile at, just a little), she sat down to watch the sky with him.

It was utterly boring.

But it did help her to work up some of her courage to say the next thing to him.

"Laxus?"

He held down a groan. "What, Haven?"

For some reason, it had shaken her, if only a little, that she'd gotten him so worked up. She had honestly been joking about the ghost thing and thought that, really, Laxus would let it slide like everything else. She said rude things. He said ruder things back. Then they argued. And they'd fix it all later, when they went training. It was their thing.

But apparently, dead mothers were off limits.

Who knew?

"If I could learn a spell to bring your mom back to life, I would," she told him quickly, before she lost her courage. "But I can't. So I won't. But if I ever learn how to, I'd use it on that."

That time, his eyes widened some before he blinked. Then, taking her words in, he took one last chug of his beer before looking down at her.

"Yeah, Have," he sighed. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said that stuff about having another kid to replace you. Too harsh."

"What? I didn't say sorry!"

But she had. In her own little weird way.

"Yeah, sure."

Haven shoved him when he tried to lay a hand on her head. "You're so stupid, Laxus!"

Crushing the can then with his other hand, he tossed it over his shoulder onto the porch where he'd pick it up later (or the demon would) before getting to his feet.

"Come on, brat," he sighed, heading out into the yard. "Might as well get some training done. After that weak shot you gave me a minute ago, you need it."

"Shut up, Laxus!"

And, as that got underway, Laxus couldn't rightly say that he was proud of himself. Because he wasn't. Once again, nothing had gotten accomplished as fair as Haven went and he was using their training a filler to dealing with bigger issues. He knew that pretty soon he'd regret always putting Band-Aids over festering wounds, but honestly it was just so much easier to ignore the problem and hope that it went away.

Even as he went to bed that night, the necklace left in the drawer where it'd probably remain for awhile and the girls tucked safely into bed, it was still bothering him. But Mira was already onto her usual complaint of that allusive third child as he mostly blocked her out with his headphones.

What would he do? When Haven grew to be the same way he was as a teen?

Or, worst of all, a teenage Mirajane?

The thought alone was enough to give him nightmares.

He was hoping that it'd be one of those crossing a bridge when they got to it things, but something told him that it'd blow up in their face long before.

But his life had all worked out up until that point. Why assume it wouldn't in that regard?

 


End file.
